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Battles was born in Akron, Ohio, the son of Frank Battles, a saltworker for the BFGoodrich and Firestone tire companies, and Della Battles.[1] He played high school football at Kenmore High School.[1] Kenmore today honors athletes who carry on Battles' tradition, those who letter in three sports their senior year, with the Cliff Battles Award. Kenmore High School is at the corner of 13th Street and Battles Avenue, but the avenue is not named after Cliff. It was so named before he became famous.

Battles attended and played college football at West Virginia Wesleyan College.[2] His most prominent season was 1931, when he scored 15 touchdowns and had four extra points.[2] The best game of his college career was also in 1931 in a game against Salem College, when he scored seven touchdowns and had 354 rushing yards, 91 kick return yards, and 24 receiving yards, totalling 469.[2]

He acquired the nickname "Gip" (sometimes spelled "Gipp") because of his admiration for Notre Dame back George Gipp, the subject of Knute Rockne’s "win one for the Gipper" speech.[3]

While at West Virginia Wesleyan, Battles won 15 letters in five sports – four each in football and track, three each in baseball and basketball, and one in tennis.[2] While there, he was a Phi Beta Kappa scholar and Rhodes Scholarship candidate.[1]

In 1932, Battles won the NFL's rushing title as a rookie.[4] He also performed well during the 1933 season and on October 8, 1933, Battles, playing for the newly named Boston Redskins, became the first player to exceed 200 rushing yards in a game, finishing with 215 yards on 16 rushes and one touchdown against the Giants.[4]

"He was the greatest open-field runner I ever saw.
He didn’t run but seemed to lope along. It was
his natural way of running. Whenever we broke him through
the line, it was almost certain to be a touchdown."

Teammate Art Bachtel in the Akron-Beacon Journal
on December 13, 1999, on Battles' running style and ability.[3]

In 1937, the Redskins moved from Boston to Washington, D.C. and acquired quarterbackSammy Baugh. For the 1937, Baugh and Battles combined their talents just as everyone had anticipated. During their last regular-season game, Battles scored three touchdowns and the Redskins beat the Giants for the Eastern Division title.[4] In the 1937 NFL Championship against the Chicago Bears a week later, Battles scored the first touchdown in a 28-21 victory that gave the Redskins their first NFL title.[4]

In what would end up being his last regular-season game on December 5, 1937, Battles ran for 165 yards against the Giants at the Polo Grounds. This was the record for most rushing yards for a player in the final regular-season game of his NFL career until Tiki Barber broke the record on December 30, 2006 with 234 rushing yards.[5]

In 1937, Battles was again the league’s leading rusher with 874 yards on 216 carries and won all-league honors for the fifth time in six years. In six seasons, Battles totaled 3,511 yards rushing.[4] A two way threat, he also finished his career with 15 interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown.

After 1937, Battles hoped for a raise in salary. George Preston Marshall, the owner of the Redskins, refused to pay him more than $3,000 a year (the amount Battles had been paid since his rookie season).[4] Battles chose retirement instead, and left the game as a player at the end of 1937.